


Game Night Newbies

by Zaniida



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Everybody's Alive and Together Somehow, Game Night, Gen, I mean there's literally no moment in the franchise where this sequence would fit, Introducing Aliens to Board Games, MJ collects random skills like they're trading cards she found on the bus, Not Canon Compliant, heck even Tony lived somehow
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:07:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28312821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zaniida/pseuds/Zaniida
Summary: On the one hand, a pretty standard game night.On the other hand, the players include two aliens and a guy who's been a brainwashed assassin intermittently frozen for seventy years, so... maybe not so straightforward.
Relationships: Michelle Jones & Peter Parker
Comments: 9
Kudos: 8





	1. Lord of the Fries

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tilla123](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tilla123/gifts).



> Starting off the **Twelve Days of Christmas** this year: A combination of fluff and awkward, with maybe some character revelations, set against a plethora of my favorite board and card games.
> 
>  **tilla** , I figured you'd like something relatively cute and endearing. I'm not yet sure what else I'll be posting in the next two weeks, so this may or may not be the only fluff we get ^_^
> 
> Let's see how this plays out:

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's nothing unhygienic about zombies in the kitchen, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I played this during college, by the way. It's pretty fun.

“ _Chickacheezabunga_ ,” Nebula reads skeptically. “Dead cow and cheese and bun. I do not have a dead cow.” She doesn’t even glance at her cards; as they’d discovered during the first few rounds of poker, she’s got close to perfect recall of her assets, even when those assets happen to be cards with zombies preparing fast-food ingredients.

_(She’d pick the rules up faster, Peter thinks, if she didn’t have this deep-seated fear that getting a rule wrong would lead to Horrible Consequences. Even here, among friends, she’s hesitant and constantly double-guessing her own intuitive leaps.)_

“You’re not supposed to tell us that,” Bucky says, mildly. “And I’m the one who gets the first shot.”

Nebula’s eyes narrow, but at least she stays seated and doesn’t grab a weapon. _(Tonight has been quite the lesson in metaphor. Also in the number of items in Mr. Stark’s game room that can be swiftly repurposed as weapons.)_ “I rolled the order,” she confirms with a frown, “but everyone else gets to try to fill it before I get to try. Starting with the one on my left.”

“Right,” Peter says.

Nebula freezes. “On my right?” she asks, eyes wide, breath coming a little faster.

Peter kicks himself. “No, I mean… that’s correct, it always starts on the left, and you pass cards to the left. If she chose a dish directly,” he corrects himself as Bucky hands a card to the Valkyrie. “That card goes to Nebula. She rolled, so all the cards this round go to her.”

“Last time we rolled, we passed to the left,” the Valkyrie says, holding up the card in two fingers.

“That’s just the first round,” MJ clarifies. “The first leader rolls, and cards get passed to the left; if anyone else chooses to roll, they get to collect the cards. For taking the risk.”

The Valkyrie shrugs, picks a second card out of her hand, and passes both to Nebula, who glances at them and places them on the little stack in front of her.

“ _Chickacheezabunga_ ,” MJ says with a little smirk, laying out three cards. “Up for order: _Feast of the Innocents_.”

“I like the tone of this game,” the Valkyrie observes as Peter hands Nebula a card.

“At least it’s better than _Kittens in a Blender_ ,” Bucky says with a grimace. “I’m surprised Stark even has a game like that.”

MJ’s smirk widens. “Actually, I’m the one who brought it. That and _Guillotine_.”

Bucky shoots her a look that is absolutely appalled.

Cautiously, head ducked a little, Nebula lays down five cards. “ _Feast of the Innocents_.”

“Dang, I thought I had that one,” MJ gripes as Nebula accepts the die from Peter and rolls up the next order. “I mean, uh… pay no attention to my announcing half the cards in my hand.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The game in question is [Lord of the Fries](https://cheapass.com/lord-of-the-fries/), and Cheapass Games will cheerfully give you a printable version for free right [here](https://cheapass.com/free-games/originals/lord-of-the-fries/). A fine game to indulge in while hiding from the zombies I mean pandemic rampaging through the streets.
> 
> * * *
> 
> I hope to post things daily (or nearly so) between now and Twelfth Night, though we all know how skilled I am at predicting my level of productivity. Some will be quick one-shots, some will be updates of existing fics; some might be other types of media. Guess we'll just have to see how this year's celebration turns out ~|^_^|~
> 
> I hope to have an announcement around the first of the year, so keep an ear out for that, too ^_^


	2. Mag Blast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In space, no one can hear your shots whiff. (They can hear all the ones that hit.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of the five people sitting at the table, three have actually been to space. Which is an interesting nuance to this scene.

“You missed. Remember, you have to make a sound, or the shot misses.”

“Sounds cannot carry through the vacuum of space,” Nebula protests. “This is basic knowledge among spacefaring cultures.”

Peter shrugs. “I know, you said, but it’s just a game, and that’s the rule.”

“Whoooo- _zhooom!_ ” Bucky grins as he places a Mag Blast on the Valkyrie’s cruiser. The two of them have developed a friendly rivalry, and most of their shots get aimed at each other during the early part of any competitive game.

The Valkyrie scoffs. “I’ve driven ships that badly wounded. What else you got for me?”

“Pew-pew-pew!” Bucky says, and adds a pair of Laser Blasts.

“It’s one shot per ship,” Peter points out.

“I’ve got two ships on that side.”

“But one of them already shot, and the other can’t shoot green.”

Bucky levels a gimlet eye at the Valkyrie. “You survive… this time.”

When it winds around to the Valkyrie’s turn, she drops a pair of Beam Blasts on Bucky’s now open side with a grinning “ _Kekekekeke_.”

Bucky leans forward to check her setup. “Which ship you firing from?”

“The _Falladir_. It can’t be the wrong color shot this time, that thing can fire all three types.”

“Yeah, but it’s on the wrong side.”

Glaring, the Valkyrie moves the ship over to the other side of her command ship.

“Sorry,” Bucky says, shaking his head. “That thing can’t move.”

“ _What?_ ” When he taps the zero indicating movement speed, she lets out a frustrated growl. “What kind of a ship can’t even move?”

“The kind that gets killed by my Mag Blast,” Nebula replies, and drops her card on the _Falladir_ with a “Whoooo- _zhooom!_ ” that is a near-perfect mimicry of Bucky’s earlier sound.

Peter exchanges a relieved glance with MJ: Three lethal warriors sitting around a table throwing sounds at each other instead of blades.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been reminded to actually discuss the games they're playing! This is [Mag Blast](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/23142/magblast-third-edition), a delightfully silly space fight where, yes, you miss your shot if you fail to make an appropriate noise. Much recommended for even young children if they're old enough to be nice to cards (though you might want to check the game art before handing it over; my copy has a booby space captain that I removed for family-friendly play).


End file.
